Pokemon Let’s Go Review

Great

When Pokemon Let’s Go was announced, there were a lot of people that were worried about Pokemon Let’s Go. It did not have the greatest announcement. It would have seemed the cards were stacked against it. There were no wild Pokemon battles. The capture mechanic from Pokemon Go was present, instead of the standard mechanic. There were no abilities in these games. Held items had also vanished from the scene. There was no GTS (Global Trade Station). And this was not Generation VIII. People, including myself, were all very worried that this would not be Pokemon.

So I went into Pokemon Let’s Go with little to no expectations for a good game. I am happy to report, I was wrong. Pokemon Let’s Go is a full fledged remake of Pokemon Yellow, with some nice additions. While some key features from this game, as stated above, are indeed missing (held items, and abilities for instance), Pokemon Let’s Go did not leave me wanting. One of my favorite things about the new capture mechanic is chaining. By catching multiple Pidgey, you can rack up a chain. As you chain up, rarer Pokemon can begin to appear. Even those pesky 1% spawns like Chansey will appear more frequently. But once you hit a chain of 11, you are guaranteed to get what is called a rare spawn. Rare spawns are even less than 1%, but as long as your chain is at or above 11, you are guaranteed to have at lease 1 rare spawn on the screen. Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle are all rare spawns.

Once your chain hit’s 31, that’s when the magic happens. Shiny Pokemon rates drop from 1/4000ish all the way down to 1/330ish. I’ve seen a lot of people on Twitter these days, chaining for hours to catch the shiny they’ve always wanted. Lukas and I have even done that ourselves. I am the proud owner of a black Charizard called Friday, while Lukas owns a red Gyrados!

But fear not, competitive battling is still possible with Pokemon Let’s Go as well. When chaining for Pokemon, you get better IV’s. What’s that you say? Friday doesn’t have the best IV’s? That’s okay. There’s an Alolan trainer somewhere in the game that you can get bottle caps from daily to boost those IV’s. EV’s have been replaced with AV’s. AV’s can be boosted with various candies found throughout the game. I believe you can boost each stat up by 200 points. But, those stats do not translate over in online battles, so don’t rely on them when doing battles with your friends.

And for anyone worried about the post game in Pokemon Let’s Go, fear not! There’s more to do here than just catch 4 legendary Pokemon. May I introduce to you Master Trainers! These trainers have Pokemon between levels 70 and 75, and they are the toughest of the tough. I thought I could handle a Charizard Master. I was mistaken. He can one shot me, even if I mega evolve. So I’m going to have to put some time in with Friday in order to claim that title. And guess what happens if you get all 153 titles (yup, Meltan and Melmetal have a master as well)? You become Grand Master! Title 154.

Which brings me to my next point. Meltan, Melmetal, and the Pokemon Go connection. In a certain city in Pokemon Let’s Go, you will find the Go Park. Once you’re there, you can transfer any Pokemon from Gen 1 into Pokemon Let’s Go. This includes all the Alolan varients (who can be used against the Masters, by the way). In fact, that was the only way I was able to get some of the version exclusives in my game to complete my Pokedex. Normally I would have just traded with someone with the opposite version, but most people I know are playing Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu like I am. Once you bring your first Pokemon from Pokemon Go, you get a special present in Pokemon Go called the Meltan Box. Once you open it, it acts like an incense that attracts Meltan to you. It is active for 30 minutes. If you’re watching closely, you can get between 9-10 Meltan per open. Once it closes, you have to wait 8 days for the ability to reopen it. And then, once your timer hit’s 0, you must transfer another Pokemon from Pokemon Go to Pokemon Let’s Go to activate the box. Meltan CAN be transferred to Pokemon Let’s Go, but he can only evolve with 400 candies in Pokemon Go. Should take between 7-8 opens of the box to get his evolution, which can also be transferred to Pokemon Let’s Go.

There are also some awesome nods to the franchise’s past in this game too. There are several cameos from characters in the anime, as well as some quality of life upgrades that made the cut. For example, after you beat the Elite Four, they get some new additions to their rosters, and you can challenge the Gym Leaders again daily.

Good

Very Faithful Remake of Gen 1

Tons to Do

Love the Legendary Battles

Can battle/trade online with friends

Bad

Missing some features like Abilities/Hold Items

RNG from catching mechanics feels off

Summary

If you're a longtime fan of the series, and you haven't picked this game up, I strongly recommend you do. It is well work the $60 price of admission. I rolled credits at about 25 hours, but I see myself easily putting over 100 into this game. Oh, and if you're wondering why I didn't even touch the Pokeball Plus in this review, that's because I have a separate review coming tomorrow, since the accessory does so much. So check back here tomorrow!